Jerry Springer: The Opera (2003)
Hytner displayed an early appetite for risk-taking by spotting Richard Thomas's and Stewart Lee's Jerry Springer (originally developed at tiny experimental venue Battersea Arts Centre in London) and including it in his first season. The ensuing controversy – it was picketed multiple times – hardly did the National much damage: the show was later broadcast by the BBC and it promptly transferred to the West End

Henry V (2003)
Hytner's own transpositions of Shakespeare to sharply contemporary settings have been a hallmark. His first production as artistic director, with Adrian Lester (centre) as Shakespeare's opportunistic king, was set uncomfortably close to Iraq

Elmina's Kitchen (2003)
Another change to the previous regime was Hytner's gradual opening-out of the National's artistic policy. The £10 Travelex season tempted in new audiences (and cleverly helped solve the problem of filling the biggest auditorium, the Olivier); plays such as Elmina's Kitchen, written by Kwame Kwei-Armah (pictured), brought a new generation of black actors to the National

The Seagull (2006)
Hytner also invited a new generation of theatremakers into the building, including companies such as Kneehigh. Katie Mitchell, who became an associate director, made waves with her radical reinventions of classic plays, one of which was Chekhov's The Seagull, starring Hattie Morahan and Ben Whishaw (pictured). One critic called it 'bird-brained'

The History Boys (2004)Hytner's own productions have rarely been as controversial. One of his enduring artistic partnerships has been with playwright Alan Bennett, whose The History Boys made stars of several of its cast (one of which was James Corden) and was made into a film

Harper Regan (2008)
Numerous playwrights have found a congenial home at the National. After debuting with the remarkable Harper Regan, Stockport-born Simon Stephens has since returned with Port (2012) and a hugely successful adaptation of Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which is doing big business in the West End